Gas Thief Rips Pump from Ground Causing Fire

[kellyhound]

LYNN - A man seemingly too cheap to pay for his own gasoline Wednesday October 22nd, cost the owners of Richdale gas station on Broadway dearly.

Employees say the man tried to pump his own gas about 3:30 p.m. at the full-service station and drove off without paying — taking the entire gasoline pump with him and causing a fireball to explode.

Station worker Tito Zaman says the suspect placed the nozzle into his car’s gas tank without anyone realizing. All of a sudden, the man got back into his car and drove away with the nozzle still attached.

The results were explosive.

“It was a pretty big fire,” Zaman said.

The man drove his silver Toyota onto the road taking the entire gasoline pump with him.
The pump was knocked over onto its side when firefighters arrived and quickly extinguished the flames.
The gas station was also outfitted with fire extinguisher devices placed above the gas tanks.

“Think of how hard he pulled,” Zaman said. “He must be pretty desperate.”

The incident forced the gas station to close for the remainder of the afternoon.

Lynn police spokesman Lt. William Sharpe said police were actively searching for the suspect shortly after the incident occurred.

[Hunted]

Interesting, as they normally have a break-away fitting on fuel dispenser where the hose attaches to it...............to prevent just what happend in this video.